Who Owns Local TV in ATX?

From an old article I wrote (pasted below) about the state of local news in Austin. I saw someone asking on the other site, so I figured I’d share here as well.

Tl;dr: even when you aren’t considering watching TV — TV news still holds a lot of influence.

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“Media consolidation is coming for us all. And in near future, the media landscape will look much different in Austin because of it. Our identity will very likely be impacted, as is the case when any two local news competitors merge. Are we prepared for what happens when a single conglomerated company owns the vast majority of Austin's broadcast TV market (and its extended reach)?

I'm talking about Nexstar Media Group's $3.54 Billion purchase of smaller rival TEGNA, KVUE's parent company. That means a single entity will now operate 50% of Austin stations, giving it a presence alongside newly produced content from ABC, NBC, CW, and a cacophony of syndicated and rerun programming. The consolidation impact is already being felt, too. As demonstrated with the FCC's influence steamrolling Jimmy Kimmel's ABC late show, people are mad -- and they're becoming more aware of station ownership. I've read dozens of passionate diatribes pronouncing the need for a boycott of KXAN, which sucks given how very little the parent company's decisions have to do with the folks in Austin.

Another thing I'm hearing a lot of lately? "Well, TV is a dying business, and I haven't watched cable in years." It's a common refrain and an honest admission, but one that obscures the true impact and influence of a local TV news organization. KVUE and KXAN are still very valuable to plenty of folks who only watch linear tv at airports and mechanic waiting rooms. Ask anyone who survived the ice storm of 2021 with only a smartphone and no electricity. This is evident when comparing web traffic across local news organizations (see graph), but still people don't have much concern for the projected decline of a vital source of trusted information.”